What We Can Learn from Walter White — and TV's Other Bad Men

Back in the day when there were only three networks and you had to get up to turn the channel, TV's manly men were a far different breed. Male virtues were often espoused through heroes saving the day in Wild West tales, saving the world as a covert super spy, or sometimes just saving baby birds in Mayberry. But as TV has evolved, so too have the characters from whom we've been learning lessons of masculinity.

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Probably the most blatant example of this shift in consciousness comes from Breaking Bad, home of Bryan Cranston's masterful performance as Walter White — a man who turns to cooking meth to support his family when it's suspected he won't live through his cancer diagnosis. Certainly the virtue of that gesture dissolved as Walt morphed into Heisenberg, but the fact remains: Walt was once a dedicated family man who was determined to support his dependents — even if it meant becoming a drug kingpin. (Obviously, time will tell if his original gold-hearted gesture will bite him in the ass as we draw closer to Breaking Bad's series finale on September 29.) That he has descended into obscene selfishness and manipulation of others (including surrogate son Jesse), arguably, only reinforces the lesson.

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But Walt's not the only powerful example of bad men teaching good lessons. Here are four more who walk in gray areas while educating us on the finer art of being male. We talked to the show runners and actors responsible for the characters to figure out what exactly we're learning.

THE MAN: Sterling Archer from Archer

THE LESSON: The importance of self-care.

Self-involved? Definitely. Self-obsessed? Positively. But what Sterling Archer does is what so few in TV land do — puts his needs first to take care of himself so that he's capable of saving the world while everyone else is focused on each other's drama. Creator Adam Reed concedes that Sterling has more than a decent amount of tunnel vision, but as Reed told us, "I think Archer actually does care about others — his character evolved over these four seasons to become more sympathetic. But as far as Archer himself is concerned? These are accidental glimpses into his humanity — he wouldn't want people to know. He's not selfless, but he's also not entirely selfish — and a lot of that had to do with Jon [Benjamin, who voices Archer] and what he brought to the character."

Benjamin sees things differently. "Adam couldn't be more wrong," he says rather bluntly. "Well, is there a seed of humanity in Archer? I guess — I don't think he's a psychopath, but he has tendencies. I think the more you get to know him, the more you get to know he's not a nice guy, but just a wounded guy. He has a lot of issues, but yeah — he kind of wants the best for himself."

As Archer heads toward its fifth season (bowing in 2014), Benjamin hopes that Archer's character evolution includes a slower metabolism, while Reed — who's currently working on episode three — says, "He's still very much Archer. Right now they're all trapped in a mansion being circled by the Yakuza. Everyone is worried and Archer is laughing his ass off, having the time of his life." But Reed can't deny that Archer has changed him as a man. Says Reed, "Having the character of Sterling Archer in my head most days has made me realize that I definitely could — and probably should — dress better."

THE MAN: Ben Diamond from Magic City

THE LESSON: Getting shit done by any means necessary.

As the head of the Miami mob, Ben "The Butcher" Diamond isn't the kind of guy you want to mess with — particularly when there's something he wants to accomplish. "What's powerful about these guys in 1959 Miami Beach is exactly that — the ability to get things done without a conscience," says Mitch Glazer, the creator and showrunner of (the recently canceled) Magic City. "There's something so pure about an unchecked appetite, and there's no doubt or hesitation at all in Ben. I like to say he's the great white shark of crime. And Danny [Huston] brings such a decadent and casual elegance to the guy, which is also attractive — he dresses in silk robes and looks so elegant and refined, and then he's doing these monstrous things."

Which is part of what Glazer feels makes the character of Ben so ruthless at accomplishing his to-do list. Amid the joy he takes in his villainy, Ben is also incredibly transparent about his passions and ideals. Says Glazer, "There's no façade or secrets — unlike Ike, who like all great leaders, has to compartmentalize. It makes me think of the amazing ability of Obama to do jokes about Donald Trump at the Correspondents' Dinner while Bin Laden was being killed at the same time. But Ben is The Butcher, through and through. The glee that Ben takes in his evil is really fun to write, because it's liberating and he does the things that people might dream of but wouldn't do."

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Glazer thinks that part of the appeal of gangster stories is the entire notion of seeing and realizing a goal without compromise — and without playing by society's rules. "There's a whole gangster mythology that doesn't go away," he says. "The whole idea of living large, being your own man and living by your own code is attractive." And though he found his male influences primarily on the big screen in the forms of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, Glazer feels working on Magic City has definitely evolved him as a man.

"I think the job of the show runner — which was new to me — and dovetailing into writing these characters, there is a certain weight and responsibility and gravitas that comes with doing this," he says. "There are hundreds of people involved in generating the show. So I do think that it's influenced me in that way, in that I have respect and admiration for running a hotel, or a criminal empire, or a TV series, and doing it in style."

As Cullen Bohannon, Anson Mount has been through his fair share of trauma — a journey that began when Union soldiers raped his wife, then murdered her and their son. But as Cullen moves into the unlikely role of being a leader while still nurturing his desire for revenge in the recently premiered third season, Mount finds himself walking a difficult line. "By end of the series, Cullen is either going to gain his soul and lose the world, or vice versa," he says.

So what does Mount tap into to bring Cullen's sometimes morally ambiguous yet firmly ingrained stance to life? "I'm from a rural part of Tennessee, and growing up, I had quite a few friends whose fathers were Vietnam War vets," he says. "I grew up thinking Southern men were quiet and played everything close to the bone, and that's not the case at all. There's a lot of PTSD out there, and that's essentially what Cullen is doing — his way of dealing is continuing to fight. It's the linchpin to he goes back to because he's addicted to fighting."

But even as Cullen's role evolves this season, show runner John Wirth is committed to continuing Cullen's journey through gray areas as he continues to hold fast to what he sees as his ultimate goal. "Cullen is far from perfect, but he's dealing with circumstances the best he can based on the knowledge he has at the time — often times we see Cullen in a situation where he makes a snap decision, then has to deal with the consequences," Wirth says. "He has a strong sense of morality, but I think it's viewed through his own filter, so he thinks it's perfectly acceptable to track down the men who murdered his wife and hold them accountable."

As for Mount, playing Cullen has shifted his own perception of what it means to be a man. Says Mount, "Cullen has taught me that the mark of a man is not machismo or any kind of coolness factor — the mark of a man is a willingness to recognize himself for what he is, warts and all, and to make peace with his own imperfections. To laugh at them, even. The mark of a man is an ability to identify with something other than simple manhood. The mark of a man is not an answer to identity — it's an appreciation that being human is a continual, beautiful question."

THE MAN: Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy

THE LESSON: Making amoral decisions for moral reasons.

If there's one incident that perfectly encapsulates Jax's ability to do the wrong thing with the best intentions, show runner Kurt Sutter thinks it's the season-one death of Kohn. "When Jax kills Kohn for stalking Tara, it's such a brutal act to do that, but it's done in the name of protecting someone he loves," Sutter says. "And as harsh as it was for them to make love next to a dead body, there was a sense — I think — that these are the lengths this guy will go to to protect the people he loves, and it was the first challenge to the audience: How far are you willing to go with this guy? Are you in for the ride? Because this is what it's going to be."

It's a ride that's been punctuated by Sutter's uncanny ability to help Jax walk that difficult line time and again over the course of five seasons — with the sixth premiering on September 10 — without his journey losing any of its teeth. "I think a lot of it has to do with what I've managed to do with the show, which is create some things to bring Jax back around to the light, so to speak — which are family, the Sons, and his love for Tara, and obviously, some of the things that push darker in terms of retaliation against his enemies, his disdain for Clay, and his disdain for people who try to hurt the club or hurt his family," Sutter says. "I'm always looking at where is he at now, what's the emotional impact of this, how far to wing to the dark, and how far to the light. Ultimately I want Jax to be dangerous and vital, but not so real and dangerous that people stop caring and relating to him."

But it's Jax's sense of morality that proves to be his biggest challenge going forward — and it's one that leads him to impulsive acts he's then responsible for mopping up after. Even so, Sutter sees Jax as having the capability to be a thoughtful, reasonable leader. It's an exploration that has led Sutter to his own realizations of who he is as a man now.

"Growth is painful. Responsibility forces growth. I've had to grow in every area of my life to handle this job. I've had to learn not to hate people. I've had to learn how not to take every criticism personal. I've had to learn to love deeper for shorter periods of time. I've had to learn balance. I hate balance."